USTA Men’s 45 Hardcourt Championships : Perley Is a Man in a Hurry : A Serve-and-Smash Strategy Carries Him Into Semifinals

Of the four players remaining in this week’s U.S. Tennis Assn. Men’s 45 Hardcourt Championships, only one, Keith Diepraam of Sugarland, Tex., plays a smooth, traditional baseline game.

Two, Len Saputo and Billy Higgins, play a more gutsy game--having charged, spun, sprinted, and dived their way into today’s semifinals.

And then there’s Jim Perley.

With his guillotine serve, calculative lobs and sneaky passing shots, Perley isn’t exactly a pretty player, nor a dazzling one. But he likes to get the job done-- ASAP.

Perley avoids baseline rallies, rarely questions a call and never stalls before serving.

“I don’t like to play a lot of cat and mouse,” said Perley, after Friday’s quarterfinal victory over Bob Duesler of Newport Beach. “It’s not my style. I prefer to get it over with as soon as possible.”

Duesler, however, was the first player in the tournament to take Perley to three sets.

After Duesler won an exhausting first set, 7-6, Perley came back with his serve-and-smash strategies to win the second, 6-4.

But the third ended almost as soon as it started. Duesler, suffering a groin pull late in the second set, couldn’t reach for shots just yards to his side.

What at first appeared to be a loss of desire, ultimately became a choice of priorities.

Down, 3-0, Duesler, the seventh-seeded player, retired from the match.

“It’s just getting worse,” Duesler said of his injury. “And right now, I have a responsibility with my doubles partner.”

That’s Jim Nelson of Newport Beach, who combines with Duesler to form the No. 1 and defending champion doubles team.

After icing his leg for an hour, Duesler joined Nelson for a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Marion Blackburn and Gil Howard Friday afternoon. Duesler and Nelson advance to the semifinals today at 2 p.m.

One player who was neither rushed nor injured was Higgins, who after upseting No. 1 Gordon Davis in Thursday’s fourth round, came back to defeat No. 5 Rob Cadwallader of Memphis, Tenn., 6-2, 6-3.

Higgins, a resident of Arcadia, played a stunning serve-and-volley game. Cadwallader spent a majority of the match racing from net to baseline, chasing Higgins’ pinpoint lobs and drop shots.

At the match’s conclusion--though Higgins had again proved himself with another upset--he was surely no upstart.

“I’m feeling pretty good,” Higgins said. “But it’s one match at a time.”

Higgins meets No. 4 Saputo today at 11 a.m. Saputo, last year’s top-seeded player, defeated Gil Howard of Daly City, 5-7, 6-1, 6-0.

In style, Higgins and Saputo play the same game.

Both are quick and nimble, often scrambling for shots thought long gone.

Both charge the net on big points, playing back as little as possible.

And neither is scared of facing either Perley or No. 2 Diepraam, who eliminated No. 6 Larry Dodge Friday, 6-0, 6-3.

Diepraam, 6-foot 3-inches and 180-pounds, is strong, swift and tenacious.

An all-around player with a powerful serve, Diepraam seems to be one of the likely candidates for Sunday’s 11 a.m. final.

But first, Diepraam will have to get through Perley. The two meet in the other semifinal, today at 9:30 a.m.

Perley, of course, will be in a rush to win.